The death of Alexander #7 - Plutarch

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Alexias
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The death of Alexander #7 - Plutarch

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Plutarch: 'Alexander' translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert ©1973

73. Towards the end of the year Alexander travelled to Babylon. Before he arrived he was joined by Neachus… Neachus told him that he had met some Chaldeans who had advised the king to stay away from Babylon. Alexander paid no attention and continued his journey, but when he arrived before the walls of the city, he saw a large number of ravens flying about and pecking one another and some of them fell dead in front of him. Next he received a report that Apollodorus the governor of Babylon had offered up a sacrifice to try to discover what fate held in store for Alexander, and he then sent for Pythagoras, the diviner… 'The liver,' Pythagoras told him, 'had no lobe.' 'Indeed,' replied Alexander, 'that is a threatening omen.' He did Pythagoras no harm and he began to regret that he had not taken Nearchus' advice, and so he spent most of his time outside the walls of Babylon, either in his tent or in boats on the Euphrates. Many more omens now occurred to trouble him. A tame ass attacked the finest lion in his menagerie and kicked it to death. On another occasion Alexander took off his clothes for exercise and played a game of ball. When it was time to dress again,.. there was a man sitting silently on the throne and wearing Alexander's diadem and royal robes. When he was questioned, he… later came to his senses and explained … he had been accused of some crime, brought to Babylon from the coast, and kept for a long time in chains. Then the god Serapis had appeared to him, cast off his chains and brought him to this lace, where he had commanded him to put on the king's robe and diadem, take his seat on the throne and hold his peace.
74.
When he had heard the man's story, Alexander had him put to death, as the diviners recommended. But his confidence now deserted him, he began to believe he had lost the favour of the gods, and he became increasingly suspicious of his friend. It was Antipater and his sons whom he feared most of all. One of the Iolas was his chief cup-bearer. The other, Cassander, had only lately arrived in Babylon, and when he saw some of the barbarians prostrate themselves before the king, he burst into loud and disrespectful laughter, for he had been brought up as a Greek and had never seen such a spectacle in his life. Alexander was furious at this insult, seized him by the hair with both hands and dashed his head against the wall….In general, we are told, this fear was implanted so deeply and took such hold of Cassander's mind that even many years later, when he … was looking at the sculptures at Delphi, the mere sight of a statue of Alexander struck him with horror, so that he shuddered and trembled in every limb…
75.
Meanwhile Alexander had become so much obsessed by his fears of the supernatural and so overwrought and apprehensive … that he interpreted every strange or unusual occurrence, no matter how trivial, as a prodigy or portent… However, when the verdict of the oracle concerning Hephaestion was brought to him, he laid aside his grief and allowed himself to indulge in a number of sacrifices and drinking-bouts. He gave a splendid banquet in honour of Nearchus, after which he took a bath as his custom was, with the intention of going to bed soon afterwards. But when Medius invited him, he went to his house to join a party, and there after drinking all thrugh the next day, he began to feel feverish. This did not happen 'as he was drinking from the cup of Heracles', nor did he become conscious of a sudden pain in the back as if he had been pierced by a spear: these are details which certain historians felt obliged to embellish the occasion, and thus invent a tragic and moving finale to a great action. Aristobulus tells us that he was seized with a raging fever, that when he became very thirsty he drank wine which made him delirious, and that he died on the thirtieth day of the month Daesius.
76.
According to his journals, the sickness was as follows. On the eighteenth day of the month Daesius (2 June 323) he slept in the bathroom because he was feverish. On the next day, after taking a bath, he moved into the bedchamber and spent the day playing dice with Medius. He took a bath late in the evening, offered sacrifice to the gods, dined and remained feverish throughout the night. On the twentieth he gain bathed and sacrificed as usual, and while he was lying down in the bathroom he was entertained by listening to Nearchus' account of his voyage, and his exploration of the great sea. On the twenty-first he passed the time in the same way, but the fever grew more intense: he had a bad night and all through the following day his fever was very high. He had his bed moved and lay in it by the side of the great plunge-bath, and there he discussed with his commanders the vacant posts in the army and how to fill them with experienced officers. On the twenty-fourth his fever was still worse and he had to be carried outside to offer sacrifices. He gave orders to the senior commanders to remain on call in the courtyard of the palace and to the commanders of companies and regiments to spend the night outside. On the twenty-fifth day he was moved to the palace on the other side of the river, and there he slept a little, but his fever did not abate. When the commanders entered the room he was speechless and remained so on the twenty-sixth. The Macedonians now believed he was dead: they thronged the doors of the palace and began to shout and threaten the Companions, who were at last obliged to let them in. When the doors had been thrown open they all filed slowly past his bedside one by one, wearing neither cloak nor arour. In the course of this day too Python and Seleucus were sent to the temple of Serapis to ask whether Alexander should be moved there, and the god replied that they should leave him where he was. On the twenty-eighth towards evening he died.
77.
Most of this account follows the version that is given in the journals almost word for word. Nobody had any suspicion at the time that Alexander had been poisoned, but it is said that five years afterwards some information was given, on the strength of which Olympias put many men to death and had the ashes of Iolas, Antipater's son, scattered to the winds on the supposition that he had administered the poison.
According to some writers it was Aristotle who advised Antipater to arrange the murder and it was entirely through his efforts that the poison was provided. They cite a man named Hagnothemis as their authority: he claimed to have heard their detail from Antigonus, and … the poison consisted of ice cold water drawn from a certain cliff near the town of Nonacris, where it was gathered u like a thin dew… But most authorities consider that this tale of poisoning is pure invention, and this view is strongly supported by the fact that during the quarrels between Alexander's commanders, which continued for many days, the body showed no sign of any corruption but remained pure and fresh, even though it lay for all that time without receiving any special care.
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